By: Eric Durrand

Course Management Systems have been around since the mid-1990s, becoming popular in colleges around the world as a convenient way to disseminate reading materials to students, and fostering discussion and exploration beyond the classroom walls. In recent years, however, these solutions have evolved into complete Virtual Learning Environments; often offering not only reading materials, discussions and live chats, but also self-assessment quizzes, an online gradesbook, student portfolios, and distance learning functions.

Perhaps because of the wealth of options, covering every aspect of learning, many K12 schools see the Virtual Learning Environments as a replacement or a threat to traditional classroom teaching, and fail to implement even a more balanced approach. "Blended learning," is a term used nowadays to connote a combination of classroom learning with online tools - and it is becoming more popular in schools around the country.

The secret of effective "blended learning" is in selecting those aspects of the online environment which most complement the classroom experience, and making a conscious decision as to what types of activities belong in the classroom, and what outside. Teachers may choose, for instance, to discuss higher level topics in the classroom, but allow discussion of side issues on the classroom web site. Formal tests may take place between the classroom walls, while self-assessment quizzes can be relegated to the online environment, which offers both flexibility in time and location and a more personalized experience.

A K12 class virtual environment may include, for instance, a syllabus of the course, information regarding times and locations, a notice board to notify of changes and upcoming class events, copies of visual aids, homework reading materials, as well as optional further reading and exploration materials. Teachers can allow self-assessment, group discussions around a specific topic, and track the student's online activities, progress, and submissions. If properly set up, teachers can also quickly grade tests and assignments and track students grades over time.

Popular platforms like Blackboard, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Angel Learning, eClassroom, or Scholar360 offer this complex functionality, each in a single easy to manage package, where each teacher can create and manage his own "space," tailor content and even customize its look & feel according to the course subject matter.

Susan Patrick, president and chief executive of the North American Council for Online Learning, shared from her experience at a recent panel, explaining that training teachers to teach online tends to improve not only their teaching methods in a virtual classroom, but also in the traditional lecture hall. Learning a new environment, she explained, helps teachers break out of old habits and gets them to rethink their approach to teaching, not just by using web tools but often by reorganizing the structure of the course itself.

Not every school can start implementing Virtual Learning Environments right away, however. There are minimum requirements: Teachers have to be committed enough to providing a modern, competitive educational experience, they need to be willing to learn the new tools of the trade and aspire to incorporate suitable elements into their classroom teaching. Students need to have access to the Internet at home, or afterhours in the school. And last but not least - someone in the school needs to take ownership of the project, learning the system and providing support, training, and personal example to colleagues.

In the end, virtual course management tools are just that: tools. Like the whiteboard, the VCR, and the PC before them - they provide some new ways to deliver and organize content. They don't replace the teacher or force him to change the content. They offer new opportunities, and as such require new and thoughtful decisions from educators as to how, why, and when to use them in the school.